LEAKED EMAIL FROM UNITED: They’ll No Longer Swap Employees for Passengers Within 60 Minutes of a Flight

United hasn’t publicly announced any new or changed procedures in the aftermath of the passenger dragged off a flight and bloodied by officers called by the airline to the scene other than to say they won’t call police in a similar situation in the future unless it’s necessary ‘for safety and security’ which is a loophole wide enough to ram one of the airline’s few remaining 747s through.

However – and although it hasn’t been publicly announced beyond employees – Point Me to the Planereports that United will apparently no longer substitute crew for passengers on sold out flights within an hour of departure.

That means in the future involuntary denied boardings when the airline wants crew to fly and not paying passengers will be done prior to boarding instead of taking passengers out of their seats once they’ve entered the plane.

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Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

Comments

So, if the situation arises like it did last weekend (last minute crew needing to work a flight the next morning) occurs, what are they going to do? Inconvenience a likely full flight on Monday morning because of the events of last weekend? I’m just trying to see how this all plays out as I fly early on Monday mornings and rely on the crew getting there in time to work the flight.

I’ve been a 1K for the last 8 years, and Exec Plat for the last 2. My clearance rate of GPU’s has dwindled to 8.75%, based on tracking the number of times GPU’s have cleared vs. not (compared with 82% clearance rate on American SWU’s during the same period). Just one example of an airline that has degenerated to squeezing every last penny out of passengers instead of honoring promises made.

The only I know to convey my displeasure to United is by switching to American full time. United: Goodbye & good riddance.

JL, from the airline’s point of view, allowing gate agents too much flexibility in granting compensation is expensive. Giving a passenger $500 who would have taken $300 is a $200 “unnecessary” cost. A few thousand of them and it would show up in the bottom line.

As for the must-fly crew: I don’t read that message as saying they have to be at the gate an hour before the flight, but that they have to *book* their seat an hour before take-off. I expect there have been times, possibly including the recent United case, where the crew knew they needed seats but didn’t take the time to book them, focusing on getting themselves to the gate before the doors closed. The new directive makes sure the gate agent knows the crew is probably coming in time to ask for volunteers and negotiate compensation. If the must-fly crew don’t get there in time, the volunteers are thanked and allowed to board. (I would suggest that some token, perhaps a free drink ticket or some FF miles, be granted to the volunteers anyway; those of us who volunteer and are not accepted pay a price in uncertainty and overhead bag space.)

@unhappy 1k – how do you have a 8% clearance rate on your global premier upgrades? You clearly aren’t doing something right. I’m a 1K too, and have probably a 90% success rate on my GPUs. What are you trying to book? I’ve got a FCO-EWR and LHR-IAD GPU that cleared at booking. Gotta look for that R space!

“L, from the airline’s point of view, allowing gate agents too much flexibility in granting compensation is expensive. Giving a passenger $500 who would have taken $300 is a $200 “unnecessary” cost. A few thousand of them and it would show up in the bottom line.”

And how much “unnecessary cost” is this event taking out of United’s coffers?

If this is a policy change by United, what effect if any would it have in the Dr. Dao situation as that was entirely on Republic metal and a Republic crew involved? If United doesn’t mandate the same change for all its regionals, regular pax will see no difference on most flights.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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